I'm the boss!

Is anyone else finding it hard to make the time to blog lately? I find that November and December are kind of like summer, I'm so busy that blogging takes a back seat to everything else. It's a good thing I have TTUT to rely on for at least one post a week. IA and I hope you'll stick with us during this hectic season and come by every Tuesday to talk! 


After being gone for a week and coming home to a shit-ton of dirty laundry I would really like to sit back and relax, it's the whole need for a vacation to recover from your vacation thing, but no-can-do. I have a do-to list longer than Santa's naughty and nice list! 


First on my list was to get all of my Christmas decorations up and clean my house so it's ready for our company and a party Friday night. Thankfully Babe brought all of my Christmas decorations downstairs while I was away so I was able to jump right in this morning.


The first room I tackled was the family room and entrance. I was so excited to get started, I love this time of year. I was however not so excited when I plugged in the tree only to see it light up in patches, it resembled a teenage boys spotty beard. After messing with each section, wiggling the wires and flicking about 500 lights my temper got the better of me and I pulled out the wire cutters. I decided to show that freaking tree just who was boss.


I did my best Dr. Evil laugh and got to snipping. After about an hour of cutting, untwisting and running artificial pine needles under my fingernails I came to the realization that I was a complete and total dumb-ass! Not only did I just waste an hour but now I had to make myself presentable for a trip to the store to buy new lights to come home and resume my battle.


By the end of the day I had transformed this 

into this

I'm ashamed to admit how many hours it took me to finish this 6 foot tree and fearful of what tomorrow is going to bring when I plug in my 10 footer! Since Babe will not let me go buy a new one I'm prepared for a trip to the corner to pick out a live tree. It's been 12-13 years since we've had a live tree, this just may be the incentive needed. I know my girls will be thrilled! 


I will confess that the last time we had a live tree I wrapped that biotch up in a tree bag and drug it to the curb with the lights still on. That was the best $30 I ever wasted, some things are just worth the money and my sanity after the Holidays is one of them! 


Come on back and link up, I have a feeling I'm gonna need the distraction!

 ******************

November 29, 2011

Today I am thankful that I no longer have to fly with small children. I am also thankful for earbuds and iTunes. I sat next to a screaming toddler on my flight home yesterday, his parents brought NOTHING to entertain home. 'Nough said right? I do have a picture of said toddler sitting in between his sleeping parents. Yes I said sleeping! After about 45 minutes of listening to him screech like a howler monkey in heat they gave up and decided they needed a nap. 

I see a post here, I just need to decide if I should include the picture I took of them or not.

What are you thankful for? 

30 Days of Thankful ~ day 28

November 28, 2011

Today I am thankful for Christmas decorations. I love transforming my house into a Winter Wonderland. What I'm not thankful for however is a tree that only lights up half way.


I'll be talking more about that tomorrow when Impulsive Addict and I host another week of Talk To Us Tuesday. You are linking up right?!!!


What are you thankful for today?

30 Days of Thankful ~ Family

November 27, 2011


Today I am thankful for a wonderful visit with my family that I'm wrapping up today. We all sat around one table and enjoyed time together, something we don't get but every couple of years. Of course I missed my Hubby and my Mom & Dad, it's been way too long since we've ALL been together. 

Thank you Selena and Lee for hosting a wonderful dinner!

There was of course a lot of laughter, a lot of delicious food and no family event would be complete without a little drama and some pee-pee filled pants! I may or may not have peed my pants and I may or may not have been the only one who did it *coughcough*Honey*coughcough*.


I am very thankful to be heading home tomorrow to see my Sweetie and my babies, apparently Rogue is really missing his Mommy! I'm also thankful that my Hubby spent Thanksgiving with his family and not alone and that he was kind enough to make an Italian dish {braciole} and take it to my Italian girlfriend who is recovering from knee replacement and as a result couldn't travel to be with her family this year. Such a nice guy huh?


And just because I love her so much I need to include this picture of Miss Brynn, my beautiful Great-Niece, and I. How beautiful is she?!

What are you thankful for today?

30 Days of Thankful ~ day 26

November 26, 2011


Today I am thankful for a wonderful week with my family, especially my new Great-Niece Brynn Presley!

She redefines precious!

What are you thankful for today?

Good Clean Fun

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of American Family Insurance for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
Eddie Murphy +  Delirious = Inappropriate for kids.
Good clean Comedians + Stand Up For Family = Good family Fun!
Don't get me wrong Eddie is funny but it's nothing that I would not sit and watch any of his comedies with my girls. It's tough to find things that are family friendly. I'm not very strict when it comes to what my girls watch but I don't want them to watch or listen to anything crude. American Family Insurance has something called Stand Up For Family, it's family friendly comedians that are actually funny and there's no need to track them down with a spoon for of cocoa. Never tried cocoa? It's better than soap, not toxic but absolutely horrible, just ask my girls they'll tell you!
I was watching some of the videos with Peanut and we both were laughing, I love the ones that talked about the things Mammas do to embarrass their kids or the creative ways they/we/I punish! We both can relate and we both found them all very  funny. I love, love, love Donnell Rawlings, that man is fun-nay! His rock music bit was enough to make me pee my pants. I know that's not hard to do but trust me it's good! just go here and see for yourself. AmFam
I will be searching for more of these videos, I cannot wait to sit in front of the TV and laugh as a family without the fear of the F-bomb being dropped every other word or listening to content that makes me squirm in my chair. When the girls were little I was fine with them hearing inappropriate things because they didn't understand but I wanted noting violent, gone are those days...bring on the beheadings!

30 Days of Thankful ~ day 25

November 25, 2001


Today I am thankful for my besties Danielle and Rebecca. As much as I miss them I have to admit that I am very grateful not to be with them today while they're out in the craziness known as Black Friday. I don't think I had it in me this year to be up and out with them at 3 am. My list is short and sweet this year, the beauty of having older kids, so the need to fight someone for Barbie's newest dream house is no longer necessary!

Have fun girls and think of me all cured up in a nice warm bed while you watch our local crazies duke it out for that $75 digital camera at Target! 

I love my triangle! 

What are you thankful for today? My thankful list will stop in 5 days I hope you've participated at least once, it's good to find the good in life even if you have to search for it!

30 Days of Thankful ~ day 24

November 24, 2011


Today I am going to try and be thankful for everything God has given me. Big challenge I know.


I am thankful for the abundant food that is on the table and for the family that surrounds me. I am more than thankful for my wonderful husband who is home without us, this is our first Thanksgiving apart in 24 years, he loves me enough to send the girls and I off to visit my family because he knows how much I miss them. I am also beyond thankful for my parents, his parents and our sweet friends who have offered to add another plate to their table so he will not be alone. I hope he takes one of them up on their offer! As much as I know how much he would enjoy sitting on the couch watching his beloved Green Bay Packer win another one I would prefer him not being alone.  


I saw this on Vivienne's blog and I just fell in love with it...


What if you woke up today with only the things you thanked God for yesterday...


That pretty much says it all right there doesn't it?


What are you thankful for today? I hope you're able to see everything as a blessing today!

Looking on the plus side, I woke up!

Headaches sucks!


Over the past 8 days I went to bed and woke up with a headache 5 days straight. It could have been worse I could have had a migraine. It was just a nagging, constant, dull pain and enough to make me want to slice my wrist with a tortilla chip! I was thrilled when I woke up Sunday morning headache free, it made Peanuts game, lunch with friends and a brief yet satisfying trip to the mall so much more fun!


I wonder if the headache going away had anything to do with the dirty margarita I used to wash down the percocet and muscle relaxer?


Looking back that might not have been the best idea but I did get 11 hours of sleep! The way I look at it is, I woke up so all is well!

***********************

November 23, 2011


Today I am thankful for the wonderful massage I had to help relieve the headache I had for 5 freaking days! It was complete bliss laying there for an hour while she rubbed my back, shoulders, neck and head! That's the silver lining to my headaches, a great massage!


What are you thankful for today?

Pee is sterile...right?

This is Talk To Us Tuesday, where we share everything and hold nothing back because we're friends. Well, I'm about to take our friendship to a whole different level!


During Peanuts softball tournament last weekend I was the score keeper {BOTH of the ladies that usually take care of the books were out recovering from knee surgery}. The pressure of making sure the right batter is up, the right play has been marked and not effing it up in general is honestly a little more than I can handle.


I do not have the best bladder, actually it's horrible and on days like Saturday I should have one, not drank a thing and two, wore a potty pad. Sadly, I did neither of those things. 


In between games {they were back to back games, zero time to waste} I had to literally run to the bathroom. As I approached the bathroom I started unbuckling my belt, unbuttoning and unzipping my pants. I was most definitely cutting it a little close so I chose to use the family bathroom located in the front of the building, saving myself about 15 steps.

I made it just in time.


As I was in mid stream and in full hover I reached for the toilet paper. 


Yep, you guessed it, no tp! 


The Asshat that runs that place is a real piece of work, the fact that there was no tp should have come as no surprise. 


No big deal, I'll just cup my hand under my crotch and side step to the paper towels.


Yep, you guessed it again, NO PAPER TOWELS! 


I'm still not freaking out, being the calm, problem solver that I am I make the quick decision to wipe with my hand and then rinse it in the sink. Not ideal but a wet hand is better than a wet crotch. 


You still up for my guessing game? 


The freaking sink didn't work! 


Visualize me hunched over like Quasi-freaking-Modo, panties and jeans around my ankles and a hand full of pee! Not pretty right?


So I shimmed my way into my pants one handed, by the way my jeans were button-fly, left my little torture chamber and went to the sink to wash my hands.


The moron that runs that place is lucky I needed to get to the next game or I may have shook his hand and then brushed and imaginary bug off his face with my "still damp from washing" palm.


Are we still friends?


Remember there are no rules here so linking up is a breeze but I'm not gonna lie, IA and I will love you a little more if you grab our button and give us a shout out! I will do my best to visit as many of you as possible this week but I'm on vacation so I'm making no promises. 

 
*********************

November 22, 2011

Today I am thankful for time with my family. Living 1800 miles apart can be hard at times but it does make our time together a little sweeter! 

Thanksgiving 2009, my sisters and I.

And my Bubba!

What are you thankful for today?

30 Days of Thankful ~ day 21

November 21, 2011


Today I am thankful that Peanut and I are traveling up north to meet Honey and spend the week with my family. I haven't been "home" in 2 years and as much as the extremely cold weather and chance of snow does not sound nice spending 6 days with my sisters and brother and their families sounds heavenly!


I'll miss Babe though, he's staying behind to watch the dogs and work, {someone has to pay for the trip} I love you Babe! 


What are you thankful for today?


Tomorrow is Talk To Us Tuesday, I hope you're planning on linking up! 

30 Days of Thankful ~ days 18-20

I'm a little behind....

November 18, 2011


On day 18 I was thankful that Honey made it safely to Wisconsin. It's always a little nerve racking putting your kid on an airplane alone! 

******************

November 19, 2011


On day 19 I was thankful that Peanuts team won 2 games in a row. Things are starting to look better, the girls are melding together and playing like a true team. I'm also thankful that out of the 6 games this weekend Peanut only had 1 error and was on base 8 out of her 11 at bats {2 strike outs and one caught pop-fly} it's thrilling to watch her play even when she's standing there with a full count and leans into the pitch...whatever it takes I guess! 

******************

November 20, 2011


Today I am thankful that Honey gets the opportunity to take in her very first Packer game with 3 of her cousins. The fact that it's at Lambeau Field is a huge bonus! It's 30 degrees there right now and they're expecting snow, so glad it's her and not me! 

She had incredible seats, corner of the end-zone 58 rows up, now that's a happy girl!

What are you thankful for today?

My puppy is cuter than your baby!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Puppies vs. Babies for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

 

Yeah, you heard me right, I just said my puppy is cuter than your baby. 

 

This is Deja the day I brought her home to surprise the girls. Please tell me that I'm wrong, I dare you!  

 

The only argument would be that my 7 year old is cuter than your puppy. Again, I'm going to dare you to argue that you've seen a cuter or happier 7 year old ever! 

 

I have to say that I find most puppies to be cuter than babies. Are those fighting words for you? Well, if so you're not alone. Hundreds of people have sent in a picture of what they feel to be the cutest baby or puppy and the competition of Puppies vs. Babies is now underway. Puppies vs. Babies online contest is already underway so it's too late for me to enter Deja but you can still help decide once and for all just who's cuter Puppies or Babies. Cast your vote today, voting is open until November 23rd, and help one person win $5,000! When you're done voting come back and tell me who you voted for, I'm curious nosey! While you're voting keep in mind that while a puppy pees and poops in the house until trained that headache is short lived compared to the amount shiz a teenager will give you, trust me I know! 

 

 

I'm on a roll

Since I've finally gotten around to showing you Honey's room I thought that it might be nice if I also shared the bathroom make over the girls got over the summer. Yes, I said over the summer, it's been done for months I've just been too lazy to take the pictures.


The girls share a bathroom, it's a Jack and Jill, well actually it's a Jill and Jill but whatever, so I need to make sure it flows with both rooms. That has been a challenge since their rooms cannot match! 


I decided to go with purple long before Honey did her room, the purple was a complimentary color for both rooms at that time, the fact that it still matches is just dumb luck.


The girls wanted a fun bathroom, a place where there friends could leave them a message on the walls. I figured why not, it's just paint plus I'm super cool like that! 


I painted the sink area white, traced different size plates on the walls in no particular pattern and painted them in both a deep and light purple. 

I also took the medicine cabinet mirrors down and replaced them with a picture frame that I painted to match. I guess I need to order pictures to go in them huh?

On the back of Honey's door I hung a travel roll up jewelry thingamajig. She keeps her makeup here so it can be seen easily and not tossed in a makeup bag.

I purchased purple, white and black paint pens and every time a new friend comes over they are handed a pen to write on the wall. It's a super fun room and when they're ready for the next look it will be ready to go after a quick coat of Kilz.


After spending hours painting circles I decided to keep the shower/toilet area solid so I painted it deep purple and accented it with white.

Since Rogue likes to eat everything I took a small garbage can and cut out the word TRASH using black vinyl and my Cricut machine. Then I screwed it directly to the wall high enough so all "girly things" were out of his reach. 

These dotted curtains were perfect for the bathroom so I sewed two together and turned it into a shower curtain and  hemmed one for the window.

Fun right?

**************************

November 17, 2011

Today I am thankful for a GNO! Tonight my girls, my bestie Danielle, Karen, her two daughters and I are off for dinner and the movies. What are we seeing? Such a silly question! At 9:30 we'll be watching Eclipse and at 12:01 we will be frozen in our seats as we watch Breaking Dawn I. What a night we are going to have! 

Will there be any headboards breaking and pillow feathers floating in the air at your house tonight? 

What are you thankful for?

How to~ Jewelry board and subway art

Honey wanted a jewelry board in her new room so I took apart her photo board and transformed it in 5 easy steps.


Step 1: Take the board apart and cut new fabric to size.

Step 2: Hot glue fabric in place.

Step 3: Put it back together. This one had swing hinges on the back making changing it a piece of cake! 

Step 4: Using a ruler space out upholstery tacks to hang jewelry from.

Step 5: Hang on wall and fill with jewelry!

Next, thanks to Vivienne, she wanted subway art. This took a little more time but the final result was worth the work.


Step 1: I took the original artwork out of the frame {a $10 clearance picture with a pink frame}, flipped it over and used the back to assure a perfect fit.

Step 2: I painted it green just in case she wanted it distressed, then white.

Step 3: Using my Cricut machine and contact paper I cut the letters out and placed them on the board. I eyeballed the placement, measuring all of that would have given me a headache.

Step 4: Once they were where I wanted them I unpeeled them and stuck them to the board.

 Step 5: I painted over the entire piece with black paint and let it dry completely.

Step 6: Using a exacto knife I carefully pulled the letters off. Luckily the black paint had not bled under the contact paper and no green paint was revealed. 

Step 7: Here is where I would have sanded it to reveal the white and green paint beneath but Honey decided she liked it the way it was so I sealed it with a high gloss sealant and placed it back into the original frame.

 Finished look:

Two very easy and inexpensive pieces of wall art that helped complete the look of Honey's new room! 

*********************************

November 16, 20110


Today I am thankful for quite days with nothing to do and no place to go. I love staying home all day in my jammies knowing I have absolutely no agenda! It gives me a chance to schedule posts for the days I don't have such a luxury.


What are you thankful for today? Find something, big or small and take note if it. It will make your day a little brighter I promise!